If the Council has good reason to believe you are eligible for help with your housing, need accommodation as a homeless person and fall into one of the groups that mean you are in priority need, they should find you temporary accommodation whilst they are investigating your case further.

Because public housing is generally in such short supply, you may need to stay in temporary accommodation for a while, even if the council has decided that they have a legal duty to find you settled accommodation.

Local Authorities often have their own hostel accommodation for homeless people, or they may have arrangements with housing associations or private landlords to lease properties to use as temporary accommodation.

In the past, homeless people have been placed in Bed and Breakfast, but now this kind of accommodation is only used when absolutely nothing else is available - and even then on a very short-term basis.

The Council will normally try and find a solution which is suitable for you - for example, an unfurnished property if you have furniture that would otherwise need storage - but there is not always very much choice.

Unfortunately, you will usually not be able to refuse temporary accommodation, because, by doing so, the Council might interpret you as being no longer homeless (there is accommodation which, for the time being, it would be reasonable for you to occupy).